My Brother's Keeper
by Caranath
Summary: second in the POV series.   Frank's feeling guilty...


**A/n: ** _Number 2 in the POV series. oh yeah, and Franklin W Dixon has first dibs. _

**My Brother's Keeper**

Frank Hardy was pacing the ICU room, deep in thought when Nurse Amanda Keller pushed open the door with a squeak.

The tall, lean dark haired youth who was so unlike his whirlwind of a brother in looks and temperament jumped at the sound but quickly recovered his composure. "Is he alright? He breathlessly pleaded, a look of desperation in his eyes.

"I'm not sure, dear, I only just came on duty. But I wanted to make sure you didn't need any one to look at you as well." Nurse Keller offered a cup of coffee to Frank and he accepted it wordlessly with a shake of his head, indicating he had not been injured.

Despite Frank's negative shake, Nurse Keller insisted that he be checked out. Soon satisfied that the blood on his clothes was indeed that of his brother's and not his own, she offered a set of scrubs to change into. He accepted with thanks and sat uneasily on the hard chair, sipping at the coffee. When asked about his parents, Frank replied "Dad's undercover and we don't have any way of getting a hold of him, but I left a message with his contact inside the Police department in case he should call in. Mom is in Hawai'i and can't get a flight back until tomorrow some time."

Upon hearing that Nurse Keller offered the use of the room next door. Frank did not hesitate in accepting, knowing that the kindly nurse would come get him as soon as Joe returned. He took a quick shower, admitting to himself that the warm water felt good and helped to ease the tension in his shoulders; a tension that he knew was in large part caused by a teeny amount of guilt. Okay maybe a large amount of guilt. Joe was hurt badly, and it was all his fault. But exhaustion took it's toll and despite his self recrimination, the Eldest Hardy son was sound asleep the minute his head hit the pillow.

Several hours later he was gently woken by Nurse Keller. Immediately alert he asked after his brother, only to be told that Doctor Taylor was currently with him and that he would be out momentarily to speak with Frank.

It had been over 12 hours since Frank had last eaten and his stomach betrayed him at this point. With a smile Nurse Keller offered to feed him from the leftovers of the day shift's potluck. He quickly demolished a full plate of chili, cornbread, beans and potato salad before sheepishly asking about the delicious looking chocolate cake sitting by the microwave.

At that moment, Dr. Taylor came into the break room. "Ahh Frank, there you are. Why, thank you Mandy a slice of cake would be just lovely this evening" he exclaimed jovially. Nurse Keller smiled tolerantly and handed a plate full of cake over to the doctor before exiting the room to do her rounds.

Frank chafed, impatiently waiting as the Doctor took his time savoring each mouth full of cake. Finally after what was in reality only a couple of minutes but seemed 100 times longer to the worried sibling, Doctor Taylor put down the plastic fork and regarded Frank with solemn eyes.

"I understand your parents are not available?"

"No, but my mother should be here by the end of the day tomorrow."

"Humph. Luckily your parents gave you a durable medical POA and you are executor of Joe's Living Will. He is going to need more surgery. I have it scheduled for tomorrow afternoon"

Frank paled at this news. "Why tomorrow?" he asked.

"He needs time to top off. He lost a lot of blood. I want his pressure back up to something vaguely resembling alive and to do that he needs at least 2 more transfusions.". The doctor leaned back and removed his wire rimmed glasses. He pinched the bridge of his nose, pausing a moment as if to gather his thoughts on how to break the news. Both Hardy boys had been frequent patients of his, so much so that once he considered offering their father a volume discount. Like Nurse Keller, he cared for all his patients but some were special and touched his life a little more meaningfully.

"Frank" he began, " I have never withheld from any of your family the full scope of injuries either you or your brother has ever sustained and I am not about to start now."

Frank nodded. "I know and I appreciate that, I really do."

"Yes, well, harrumph..." Taylor cleared his throat and began speaking again in what Joe always called his "Doctor Voice".. clinical, somewhat detached in order to relay the information without emotional uproar. "Joe sustained three separate gun shot wounds. The easiest and least invasive was the shoulder. As you know the bullet went straight through, doing minimal damage although his baseball season is done for. The second is to his abdomen and I will be honest, I thought at first it could prove a problem. Luckily scans indicate that it has not tore through any major muscle groups or organs and is relatively near the surface. It should be an easy repair job although he will be very sore for a while."

Frank breathed a sigh of relief at this news, thinking the worst was over and all that was left was recovery. Unfortunately that was not the case.

"That was the good news. Now for the bad. The remaining bullet is lodged dangerously near his heart and we may not be able to remove it easily, if at all. I am bringing in a cardio specialist and hopefully that will make it easier. There is a great deal of impact swelling which is pressing on his heart and causing it to have a harder time beating. And his lung has still not fully inflated; I believe there is a tear that needs repairing. That too we will look at in the morning." The doctor stopped here, waiting for Frank to assimilate the information and accept it before dropping the bombshell.

"There's one more thing. The swelling has also compressed his spinal nerves. As of twenty minutes ago, I could not get a reaction from Joe's lower extremities." He put up a hand as Frank leaned forward in alarm " I do not wish to seem a doom sayer or present a worse case scenario as fact. Joe has not regained consciousness at all so I could not ask him to move his legs for me. It is very likely that once the swelling goes down, he will regain full use of them again. But there is always the small chance that is not temporary. You will need to prepare yourself..and your parents, for that possibility."

Taylor rose from the table and came around the corner, putting his hand on the young man's shoulder. His face had turned white as a sheet and he was dangerously close to hyperventilating. "Why don't we go see him now, hmm?"

Frank only nodded, too stunned to speak.

The break room was steps from Joe's room, almost directly across. In the wee hours of the morning, every sound was louder and harsher. Frank winced as the heavy metal door squeaked a protest as it swung inward. Inside, the room was awash in harsh sterile lighting. The respirator wheezed and whooshed in a slow but steady rhythm. With deja vu all over again, Frank's heart caught in his throat as he got a good look at his brother for the first time since the ambush. Last time, Joe had been covered in blood. Now, it was bandages and tubes. Frank didn't think the change was much of an improvement.

Linda Marks, another nurse, had been in the room, taking a reading from the monitor that was hooked up to Joe's right index finger. She smiled at the newcomers and handed the chart to the doctor. Placing a gentle hand on Frank's she said quietly "He's resting comfortably. I'll be back later to take another set of vitals." and with that, she was gone. The doctor, too left soon after, leaving Frank alone with his thoughts.

Frank spent the night uneasily. The chair was most uncomfortable but he refused to entertain the thought of finding anything else. He considered it a form of penance; payback for getting his brother into this mess. Frank chuckled grimly to himself. Now _there_ was a first. Usually Frank was telling Joe off for being reckless. The one time _HE_ was the reckless one it was still Joe who got hurt. Go figure. His mind refused to linger on Dr. Taylor's ominous words concerning paralysis.

Every fifteen minutes, on the dot, either Nurse Keller or Marks came in to take a new set of vitals. At 630, Nurse Keller came in one last time and suggested Frank go get some breakfast as Dr Taylor would soon be in to examine Joe. Reluctantly, Frank did as suggested but soon returned to the room, where he encountered Dr Taylor just finishing up.

"Hi doc, how is he?" he asked anxiously.

"Well son let's you and I have a little confab, shall we?" with a smile, Dr Taylor led the dark haired sibling over to the hard chair and sat him down in it before grabbing the stool that normally stood by the sink and easing onto it himself.

**Tbc...**

**A/n: **_I tried not to go too overboard repeating stuff from Night Shift. Luckily Doc Taylor is up next which will move the plot forward. Honest. I just need to , you know.. write it..._


End file.
